𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XXXVIII - 《between the devil and the deep blue sea》

oOo

"No no no no no," Diana muttered in pure desperation, heart beating like her ribcage was too tight and wide eyes on her sister while she was chased, no Felix in sight.

Where was he? What was she doing? What was she thinking?!

Diana made to stand up, to bolt down the ladder, to call their attention upon herself, anything, anything! Dale held her down, hushing her, but his efforts to calm her were for naught.

She would not be losing anybody else!

oOo

Alice was big enough a person to admit when fear touched her. And right now, it had its filthy hands all over her. She wouldn't let that deter her, though, she had shit to do. Like not dying. And she really had to pee.

Their soiled claw-like hands swiped at her feet and ankles, leaving very little free space for her to move. She only hoped she'd be able to keep her balance, and she thanked fuck that it was a tall truck.

The Hummer was surrounded by little more than a dozen walkers, reaching over each other, pushing and crushing themselves against the truck. The smell was horrendous to Alice's sensitive nose, and she had to cover her mouth and nose with her forearm for a second to keep herself from gagging.

She had to be clever and think quick, but that was nothing new to her. She was lucky these strays hadn't attracted the rest of the massive mob as they'd chased after her. She selected her target and her grip tightened around what used to be her dad's knife. The blade struck true and deep and then was gone, dropping the walker. Alice watched it be swallowed by the others and replaced just as soon.

She dropped the next one on the other side of the truck. She didn't want them using the corpses to climb over each other and reach her.

While pivoting, her ankle twisted and gave way, and she fell on her butt. A walker caught the toe of her boot but she was able to kick it away, but then another snagged her wrist.

She yelped and switched the knife to her free hand, stabbing blindly at the walker's arm and then the crown of its head until its grip loosened and it fell away.

She had to get up quickly. On the way up, another hand got hold of her ankle and pulled hard, bringing her to one knee, supported by her forearms. Before she could rise to her hands or pull her leg back, one of them managed to grab her by the crook of her elbow.

That walker stood taller than the others, standing on its felled kinsmen, and used both hands to guide her forearm to its snapping mouth. Panic stabbed her in the gut. Omfg, you stupid fuck, put that thing back where it came from or so help me.

Alice thrashed her leg, but the grip was steadfast. She began anticipating the wet warmth of the creature's mouth as it encompassed her flesh and tore into it with blinding pain. But she'd only give up once she was dead.

A wet thud sounded and suddenly her leg was freed. She didn't question it, just focused on gathering her balance and thrust the knife into the joint of the walker's jaw. She twisted and the jaw came unhinged, hanging only by the remaining joint and the rotting flesh that kept it in place. It could no longer bite.

Try me, fucker. Mom and dad would be so proud.

She pulled the blade out and stabbed its temple, then pried her arm from its loose grip and pushed it on top of the other walkers, seeing them topple over, trapped by its weight.

One climbed onto the hood of the truck, followed by another and another. The one closest to Alice was struck down before it came within arm's reach, causing her to flinch unexpectedly. A shot to the head that had it fall in a heap onto the windshield, tripping the other two, which were the next kills in the succession.

Then Alice saw her in her peripheral vision, a sudden reflection of sunlight caught her eye, and another walker fell with the whoosh of an arrow.

Alice almost scoffed. Was that binch trying to steal her moment? How dare she? She smirked, though, knowing she had her back.

Together they thinned the small group of walkers, Alice's heart in her throat the entire time. She'd ridden Silver Star plenty of times, she being somewhat of an adrenaline junkie and it being the tallest roller-coaster in Europa-Park, but the exhilaration of all those daring drops could never compare to this feeling. It was a crazy rush, almost addicting.

In the likes of an edgy horror take on the Pokémon franchise: she was gonna kill 'em all.

All jokes aside, her hunger for revenge was only heightened by this feeling of power; she felt inebriated with it.

She would see it through, she would fill the hole in her soul with their dark clotted blood.

...

That sounded so disgusting and badass at the same time.

Only two of them were left and Alice saw Daryl approach from behind a car. He stepped over the corpses while she grabbed a handful of hair before plunging her knife into the walker's eye socket. Daryl pulled the last one back by its collar, causing it to trip and fall, and he killed it swiftly.

Alice felt the breath leave her in a long exhale as her butt plopped onto the roof. She let her back hit the burning metal, her sweaty skin almost sizzling against it, the heat radiating through the fabric of her top. It burned with each heavy breath that expanded her chest.

She was bone-weary but jittery with lingering adrenaline. Her eyelids were painted red against the sunlight and if not for the circumstances, she could've fallen asleep right there. The knife fell from her grip, the skin of her hands stiff with drying blood.

Daryl approached her, his footsteps emphasized by hateful kicks directed at the walkers' still forms. "You did great, kid," he said, a hand squeezing her bicep in encouragement, "but your sister's gonna kill you."

"Let her," Alice mumbled, cracking an eye to see her storming silhouette plowing towards them. She swore she could see the trail of smoke coming out of her sister's ears from here. "I'm ready to leave this plane of existence."

oOo

Diana felt her eyes sting with tears – of fear, of relief, of anger. She forgot that she meant to thank Daryl for his assistance and marched straight past him. The pulsing bow found its way to the ground, and Diana clambered up the Hummer, feet uncharacteristically clumsy.

Alice had already sat up by then, hands outstretched to bar her descent on her. It didn't stop Diana – but to be honest, not even a fully equipped army would've been able to keep her from any of her siblings -, and she had her arms around Alice despite the girl's protests, holding on tight, enduring the abuse aimed at her.

"Shut up!" Diana yelled, voice cracking. Alice flinched and stilled, hands dropping to her sides. Diana decided not to abuse her luck and held her at arm's length, trying her best to glare at her without bursting into tears.

Alice grabbed Diana's wrists and removed her hands from her shoulders, pushing her off gently. "Get off my lap, it's fucking weird."

Diana complied, but her wannabe-glare faded to a worried groove between her eyebrows. She grabbed her right arm, inspecting her skin, searching for bite marks or scratches. She found none, then repeated the process with her left arm, her ankles, and calves, and pulled up her top, which earned her a shove and a heavy slap on the hand along with a screech.

Nothing, she was clean, beautiful brown skin intact. All threats and reprimands got caught in her throat.

The relief was swiftly replaced with dread.

With a dry throat and thick tongue, she managed, "Felix?" His unexplained absence made her heart heavy, an acrid poison spreading through her veins, and she pretended to be ready for the worst.

"He's fine, I hid him," Alice sighed in two-part annoyance one-part understanding. Diana's eyes fluttered closed as she sighed, deflating.